Gabe Marabella’s secret to success is simple. Make a darn good meatball and people will come.

And they have.

At Marabella Meatball Co., not only do customers keep coming back for more, but so does the small screen. Featured on the Travel Channel’s “Food Paradise” and the Cooking Channel’s “Chuck’s Eat the Street,” chef Gabe Marabella, who — even with all this screen time — couldn’t be more humble, welcomes every restaurant guest like members of his own family.

Those guests order meatball sandwiches, meatballs with pasta or just a bowl of meatballs.

“It’s my mom’s recipe,” Gabe said of the meatballs.

He even has a picture — actually a blown-up postcard from the region in Italy his mom hails from — hanging on the wall.

It’s not a big restaurant. But, it’s a great location right on Walnut Street where foot traffic brings in curious city dwellers looking to see what this meatball craze is all about.

On the window of the building it reads “Move over cheesesteak. Gotta have Marabella Meatballs!”

Flavor — It’s all about the flavor of the meatball here. Every ball has the same base, Gabe said, it’s the meat of the balls that varies.

Restaurant patrons can choose from beef, beef/pork/veal combo, chicken or veggie meatballs with a choice of cheese, sauce and toppings (if you want.)

But the flavors here are from Gabe’s family recipes. The sauce “doesn’t have any sugar.”

The chicken used is “fresh ground chicken” which comes in “fresh every day.”

And all of the meatballs are made fresh daily, Gabe said.

They are all baked in the sauce, which flavors the meatballs, and in turn, flavors the sauce.

Menu — Even though the menu seems simple, it’s a bit more complicated than you might think. At first, Gabe said he created a menu that had customers choosing how they wanted their meatball sandwich themselves. Create Your Own had customers choosing between a traditional sandwich of four balls on a roll or a Nonni with two balls on a round roll and then picking the type of ball, cheese — aged Provolone, fontina, Piave Vecchio or mozzarella — sauce — tomato, marinara or mushroom and a topping for an extra $1.25 — broccoli rabe, spinach, ricotta, prociutto, olive tapenade, pesto or sundried tomatoes.

Although this menu doesn’t seem too difficult, Gabe said it proved to be a bit confusing, and instead, a list of sandwiches and pasta options were added.

The sandwiches can still either be a traditional ($8.95) or Nonni ($6.75), but different types were put on the menu for customers to pick from. There’s a classic — a tried-and-true favorite — beef meatballs, aged Provolone topped with tomato sauce; or the beef fontina, which has beef meatballs, fontina cheese and mushroom sauce; and a Prosciutto, which comes with beef meatballs, aged Provolone, proscuitto and tomato sauce.

In the mood for a chicken meatball? There’s the chicken parm, which has chicken meatballs, aged Provolone and tomato sauce or you can try the chicken philly — chicken meatballs, aged Provolone and broccoli rabe.

Want to give the veggie a try? Choose from the Veggie Rabe or Veggie Ricotta — veggie balls, ricotta and marinara sauce.

It turns out most of the choices on the menu were items customers came up with on their own anyway, Gabe said, but, this way it’s a little easier.

Guests can also have their meatballs with pasta. Spaghetti and meatballs, wheat penne with chicken meatballs or penne veggie — pasta with veggie balls in marinara sauce all go for $8.95.

Just in the mood for meatballs? Try a bowl of three meatballs for $7.75 or a sampler — one of each meatball for $9.25.

Atmosphere — Inside, the restaurant has a few rustic-style tables with modern black chairs for meatball lovers to sit and enjoy their meals. The menu is on the wall to your left and the kitchen is open so customers can see their meatballs being hand formed.

There’s an exposed brick wall which gives the space a charming, city feel.

It’s a warm space with warm colors of reds and browns — perfect for a joint that serves meatballs.

Healthy options — Gabe said he had Healthy Dining Finder calculate the nutritional values of healthier menu choices. All under 350 calories, these options, for $7.75 are still just as delicious as their higher-in-calories counterparts.

Choose from three chicken meatballs with marinara sauce, three veggie balls with marinara sauce, two chicken meatballs with spinach or broccoli rabe with marinara sauce or two veggie balls with spinach or broccoli rabe and marinara sauce.

Hours — Marabella Meatball Co. is open from Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. (closed in the summer.)

Information — Located at 1211 Walnut St., there’s a garage located right around the corner of the restaurant on 12th and Walnut where you can park.

Marabella Meatball Co. delivers, too. And they also have a catering menu.

Guests can also order eight meatballs and sauce for $18 or get sauce to go — either a pint for $4.95 or a quart for $8.95 — if you want.